Week 2 of the Deir el-Ballas Expedition saw the project move fully into the rhythm of fieldwork, with teams spread across the site advancing excavation, documentation, conservation, and survey. A major focus this week was the continued establishment of our site grid and permanent fix points, led by Sarah Sowerby...
The 2026 field season at Deir el-Ballas is officially underway! Our first week has been a busy one, focused on reopening the site, coordinating with our Egyptian colleagues, and setting the groundwork—both administrative and archaeological—for the weeks ahead. After completing and signing the necessary paperwork in Cairo and Qena with...
This week was the team’s last week on site and in Luxor. Salima Ikram and Nicholas Brown completed the preliminary study of the animal meat offerings. Additionally, Shymaa Mandour, working from home, began the process of epigraphically recording the workmen’s marks from the tomb. Using photos taken by Nicholas in...
This week the team in the tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43) began their long-anticipated work of sorting through the various mummified meat offerings (“victual mummies”). We were joined by Dr. Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo, who is a specialist in faunal remains. The team spent time carefully...
Tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43) Project The Ancient Egyptian Heritage and Archaeology Fund is pleased to be partnered with and support the Tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43) Research Project, who started work this week in Egypt. The team’s director, Nicholas Brown, met with colleagues from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities...
The Deir el-Ballas Expedition completed its work on site this past week. At the start of Week 5, we had minimal cleaning and excavation work that took place at the South Palace, under the supervision of Nicholas Brown and Piet Collet. Most work consisted of final on-site documentation and backfilling...
This week on site was our last week of archaeological investigations for the 2025 Season. Up in the north, Ahmed Abdelgawad continued his investigation of the North Palace and mud brick conservation efforts. Highlights of his work this week included discovering a possible rubble-filled doorway between some of the casemates as...
This week we were joined by AUC Egyptology student, Victoria Shakespeare, who worked with Matei Tichindelean in the North Wadi Settlement. Both conducted clearance and excavation work on two structures in the neighborhood, which were revealed by our surface cleaning (amounting to 1,925 square meters in total thisseason). We are...
Conservation and consolidation work is progressing on the North Palace. The capping of the western face of the casemate core is nearly complete and work is continuing on building up the southern enclosure wall. In the North Suburb, Hassan Elzawy is continuing the excavations in Houses G and F and...
The Deir el-Ballas Expedition started up work at the site on January 4 with a large contingent of archaeology students from the American University in Cairo, UCLA, and Yale University. This season we are concentrating our efforts on three locations, the North Wadi Settlement, where there are a number of...
